Shahid Afridi was named the skipper of the Twenty20 franchise, Karachi Zebras, that will compete in the in the eight-team qualifiers for the National T2o League, starting at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi from September 1. The two-man selection panel constituted of Basit Ali, chairman of the national junior selection committee, and Karachi region head coach Azam Khan. Despite the selectors have always saved the major players for the main tournament, they decided to do use the other way by sending a full-fledged team for the qualifiers keeping in mind the fact that none of the two Karachi teams have ever won the league. WATCH: Umar Akmal shares Dubsmash video on Twitter
According to a report from Dawn.com, apart from the veteran Pakistan T20 skipper, the Zebras will have the services of current national one-day and T20 vice-captain Sarfraz Ahmed as Afridi’s deputy as well as Anwar Ali, Fawad Alam, Khurram Manzoor, Shahzaib Hasan, Asad Shafiq, Khalid Latif and Mohammad Sami. All these stalwarts have represented the country.
Meanwhile, Dolphins, who have qualified for the main tournament starting in Rawalpindi from September 8 to 15 after the conclusions of the qualifiers, will be led by long-discarded Test batsman Faisal Iqbal. READ: Lancashire cricketer Liam Livingstone attacked with pint glass on face
There has been a controversy regarding the inclusion of just one team from Karachi and Lahore in the main cricketing events of the country— Quaid-i-Azam Trophy and National T20 League—from the forthcoming domestic season.
Squads:
For National T20 Cup:
Karachi Dolphins: Faisal Iqbal (captain), Rameez Raja (vice-captain), Fazal Subhan, Ahsan Ali, Shaharyar Ghani, Saud Shakeel, Babar Hussain Agha, Saifullah Khan Bangash, Mir Hamza, Tabish Khan, Babar Rehman, Azam Hussain, Tariq Haroon, Mirza Ahsan Jamil, Junaid Ilyas, Rameez Aziz, Mir Adnan Baig, Majid Khan.
For T20 qualifying event:
Karachi Zebras: Shahid Afridi (captain), Sarfraz Ahmed (vice-captain), Khurram Manzoor, Shahzaib Hasan, Khalid Latif, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Sami, Rumman Raees Khan, Faraz Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Waqas, Fawad Khan, Abdul Ameer, Shahzaib Ahmed Khan, Mohammad Hasan, Saad Ali, Tahir Khan.
